Mail-catcher.



T. J. MORRISEY, JR.

MAIL GATOHER. APPLICATION FILED MAB..21,1914.

Patented 0011.13, 1914.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

THE NORRIS PETERS 60.. PHOYO-LITHQ. WASHINGTON. D. C.

' T. J. MORRISEY, JR.

MAIL OATGHER.

APPLICATION FILED MAB-.21.,1914.

1, 1 1 3,466. Patented Oct. 13, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET z.

WIMWQ THE NORRIS PETERS to PNOTO-L|THO.. WASHING r0". 0. 4.

.onrnn srntrns THOMAS J. MOREISEY, JR.

, OF BELLEVILLE, ILLINOIS.

MAIL-CATGHEE.

Specification of Letter P n Patented. Oct. 13, 1914.

Application filed March 21, 1814. Serial No. 826,370.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. Monnrsnr, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at Belleville, in the county of St. Clair and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Catchers, of which the following is aspecifi'cation.

This invention relates to a mail catcher. and the principal object of the invention is to provide a mail catcher having an improved type of housing through which chutes lead so that a mail sack may be conveyed into the interior of the housing and deposited upon improved means for releasing a closure which will retain the sack in the housing and prevent removal of the same by an unauthorized person.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved means for releasing the closure so that the closure upon one side of the housing may be closed without the closure upon the opposite side being released.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved type of bumper for operating the releasing means.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved means for constructing the support which carries the closures and releasing means and which also forms a support for the mail sack after being caught.

This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein- Figure 1 is a top plan view of the mail catcher; Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 8 is a vertical transverse sectional view through the catcher taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4; is a longitudinaltransverse sectional view taken along the line 4& of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is an enlarged view in elevation. showing a modified form of bumper from that shown in Fig. 3.

The housing 10 is provided with a top 11 which has its end portions out to form the jaws 12 which extend beyond the inlets of the chutes 13 and 14. These chutes 13 and 14: are substantially S shaped as clearly shown in Fig. 2 and are provided with outwardly extending lips 15 which are provided to prevent any danger of the sack not entering the chutes. The inner ends of the chutes rest upon the supporting beams 16 and support a plate 17 which extends longitudinally through the housing to form a compartment 18 in the lower portion of the housing. A

door 19 is provided so that access may be when desired to remove a sack from the compartment.

The supporting plate 20 is suspended from the cover plate 17 by means of spring 21 and carries the closures 22 which are pivotally connected with the plateiO as shown at 23. These closures 22 are in the form of frames which carry wire mesh so that the closures will be lightbut at the sametime strong. Catches 2 1 are carried bythe closures 22 so that the closures may be held in an open position when it is not desired to have the closures held in a closed position by the springs 25. The hooks 26 which releasably engage the catches 24 are connected with rods 27 which are slidably mounted in bearings 28 and yieldably held in their normal positions by means of the springs 29. The

32so that either trigger may be moved to an operative position and move its rod 27 to release one of the closures 22. v

To the platform 33 there is pivotally connected an abutment or bumper 3a which has its upper end rigidly connected with the rod 32. A finger 35 extends above the bumper 3 and is connected with the pins 36 by means of springs 87 and-38. This platform is provided with eyes \Vltll which the lower ends of the springs 25 are connected and carries latches 89 for engaging the free ends of the closures 22 to releasably hold the closures in a lower position. SpringseO are block il so that the platform will be yieldably held in its normal position.

In Fig. 3 the bumper 34 has been shown as a frame which carries a wire screening In Fig. 5 the bumper is shown as a frame 4-3 which carries a screening 44, the frame 43 being mounted in an outer frame 45 and'yieldably held in spaced relation to the outer frame 45 by means of spring 16.

The operationfof this device isas followsi The mail bag is suspended from the'train by any suitable suspending means which will hold the sack in such a position that it will pass into the jaws 12 at one end ofthe housing the train passes the station. When the sack passes into the jaws 12, it will be removed from the holding device and will pass into either the chute 13 or 14:- The sack will pass through the chute and out of the inner end upon the platform 33. Before alighting upon the platform, the mail had to the interior of the compartment 18 positioned between the platform 33 and base triggers 30 and lare connected by the rod bag will stri e the bumper 3% and this will cause the bumper to move the rod 32 and spring the triggers 30 and 31 to bring one of the triggers into engagement with its rod 27. If the sack is passing through the chute 13 the rod at the right of Fig. 2 will be moved to move its hook 26 out of engagement with the hook 2i and permit the right-hand closure to be drawn clownwardly to the closed position indicated by dotted lines by its springs 25. The sack will now be held in place upon the platform 33 since the closure will be held in a closed position by its latch 39 and thus the mail sack can not he removed from the platform 33 without the door 19 being opened. If a train approaches the platformfrom the opposite direction, the mail sack will pass throu h the chute 14 and will strike the bumper 3-1- moving it in the opposite direction and releasing the left-hand closure 22 and permitting the left-hand closure to be moved to the lower position. It will thus be seen that more than one sack may be caught without it being necessary to move each sack after it has been caught.

What is claimed is: y

1. A mail catcher comprising a housing having chutes extending into the same and 1 provided at the outer ends of the chutes ith means for engaging a mail sack to detach the same from supporting means and causing the sack to pass into the chute, a

platform mounted in said housing inter mediate the inner ends of said chutes, a support yieldably mounted 111 said housing above said platform, a closure hingedly connected with each end of said support, springs connecting said closures with said platform for normally holding said closures in a closed position, latches for engaging said closures having their stems slidably connected with said support, resilient means for normally holding said latches in an operative position, triggers pivotally con nected with said support for engaging the stems of said latches, a rod connecting said triggers, and a bumper hingedly connected with said platform and having its upper end connected with said rod for causing said rod to be moved to position to release one of said latches when said bumper is struck by a mail bag entering said housing.

2. A mail catcher comprising a housing having chutes extending into the same, a platform, springs positioned between said platform and the bottom of said housing, a supporting plate, springs connected with said supporting plate and the interior of said housing to yieldably suspend the sup porting plate, guiding brackets carried by said plate, rods slidably carried by said brackets, latches carried by the outer ends of said rods, springs connecting said latches with certain of said brackets to normally hold said latches in an operative position, closures hingedly connected to said plate and provided with means for engaging said latches to releasably hold said closures in a raised position, springs connecting said closures with said platform for normally holding said closures in a lowered position, triggers carried by said plate, a rod connecting said triggers, a bumper pivotally connected with said platform and having its upper end connected with said rod to permit said rod to be moved with said bumper to bring one of said tr ers into engagement with its rod to rele; so its respective latch, a guiding rod slidahly engaged by said bumper, and springs mounted upon said guiding rod upon opposite sides of said bumper to yieldably hold said bumper in a normal position.

3. A mail catcher comprising a housing provided with an inlet, holding means mounted in said housing adjacent said inlet, a closure forsaid holding means, a support, a latch carried by said support for releasably holding said closure in an open position, a trigger carried by said support for actuating said last-mentioned means to move the same to a position to release said closure, a bumper hingedly connected with said holding means, said bumper comprising a frame, a strip of mesh carried by said frame, guiding means slidably engaged by the upper end portion of said bumper, resilient means engaging said guiding means to yieldably hold said bumper in a normal position, and means connecting said bumper with said trigger for causing said trigger to be moved with said bumper.

4. A mail catcher comprising a housing provided with an inlet, holding means mounted in said housing adjacent said inlet, a closure for said holding means normally held in a closed position, a latch for releasably holding said closure in an open position, a trigger for operating said latch, a bumper carried by said closure and comprising an outer frame, an inner frame, resilient means yieldably suspending said inner frame within said outer frame, a guiding finger extending above said bumper, resilient means engaging said guiding finger to yieldably hold said bumper in a normal position, and means connecting the bumper with said trigger for causing said trigger to move with said bumper.

5. A mail catcher comprising a housing having chutes extending into the same, a platform mounted in said housing intermediate the inner ends of said chutes, a support yieldably mounted in said housing upon said platform, a closure hingedly connected with each end of said support, yieldable means normally holding said closures in a closed position, latches for holding said closures in an open position slidably connected with said support, resilient means for normally holding said latches in an operative position, triggers for engaging said latches, and actuating means for said triggers moved to release one of said latches when said actuating means is struck by a mail bag entering the housing.

6. A. mail catcher comprising a housing having chutes extending into the same, a yieldably supported vplatform, a yieldably suspended supporting plate, guiding brackets carried by said plate, rods slidably carried by said brackets, latches carried by the outer ends of said rods, resilient means normally holding said latches in an operative position, closures hingedly connected to said plate and provided with means for engaging said latches to releasably hold said closures in a raised position, means for normally holding said closures in a lowered position, triggers carried by said plate, a rod connecting said triggers, and a yieldable bumper pivotally connected with said platform and having its upper end connected with said rod to permit said rod to be moved with said bumper to bring one of said triggers into engagement with its rod to release its respective latch.

In testimony whereof I affix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS J. MORRISEY, J R. Witnesses:

JOHN V. SIMoNns, ALBERT SAINTEVE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

